UH Students Designing Posters for Houston Zoo Events

The
Houston Zoo is committed to educating the public on wildlife conservation
efforts. Soon, the world-renowned zoological park will have new partners in
promoting animal awareness.

University
of Houston graphic communication seniors recently applied their talents to
posters detailing the plights of several endangered species. Zoo patrons will
have an opportunity to view these works during two upcoming special events:
“Mane Event” on Oct. 4 and “An Evening with Jane Goodall” on Oct. 10.

Under
the guidance of UH professor Cheryl Beckett, students have been designing
posters that are focused on the 12 conservation efforts supported by the
Houston Zoo.

“These
posters can be used as wall art, but more importantly, they are designed to
motivate people’s interests in conservation, said student Emily Goad.

“This
project helped us with developing effective aesthetics,” said student Brandon
Robinson, who designed a poster focused on African painted dogs. “We’re trying
to create something aesthetically pleasing and that serves a purpose. That’s a
big part of this assignment. We have to create something beautiful that also
communicates a message.”

Robinson’s
poster features bold a red backdrop with images of two brown and white painted
dogs with text that reads “Underdogs. Painted Dog Conservation.” Other posters
include Kristin Liu’s piece that concentrates on chimpanzees. Her work shows a
chimp’s face peering through green leaves against a black background. A brown
human handprint is stamped across the image with the words “Give Chimps A
Helping Hand.”

“The
hand symbolizes the one that either helps or hurts the chimps,” she said. “It’s
also representative of how similar human and chimp DNA is … and that chimps are
being affected by human-related factors including hunting and disease.”

Liu and
Robinson’s posters will be among the 22 works that will be displayed at the Houston
Zoo on Oct. 4 and 10.

Presented
by the Houston Zoo and UH Graphics Alumni Program (UHGAP), “Mane Event” offers
visitors conservation learning opportunities and will spotlight star students. The
event kicks off at 6 p.m. in the Houston Zoo Mashihara Pavilion. During the
event, scholarships will be presented to UH graphic communications students. Admission
is free but a $10 donation at the door is encouraged. With this donation,
visitors may cast their ballot for their conservation effort of choice. Proceeds
are split between the zoo’s conservation efforts and the UH’s graphic
communications program and scholarships. This event also will showcase posters
designed by members of the community that will be auctioned at the Goodall
lecture. The UH students’ posters will not be available for purchase. For more
details, visit the UHGAP Mane Event site.

“An
Evening with Jane Goodall” is the featured event at the Houston Zoo Wildlife
Conservation Gala on Oct. 10. The event begins at 5:30 p.m. in the Mashihara Pavilion and
includes dinner, animal experiences, a silent auction and presentation from noted
anthropologist Goodall. For details, visit the event’s website.

“Projects
like the ones that will be on display at these events show how design can be
used for social good. They also show the kind of work being produced at UH,”
Beckett said. “For our students, this is just one project that shows how their
talents can be used to address and communicate an important message.”

The UH School of Art's graphic
communications program prepares student designers through an intensive
curriculum focused on graphic design methodology, research and theory. It
offers both Bachelor of Fine Arts and Master of Fine Arts degrees. For more
information, visit the program’s website.